VESTABURG — “Highly effective” was the rating the Vestaburg Community Schools Board of Education issued to Superintendent Jeff Beal at the school board retreat April 22 at the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District.

With a score of 86.1, the evaluation tool adopted from the Michigan Association of School Boards held that Beal was highly effective.

At the regular school board meeting on May 13, Beal lowered his rating to “effective,” notin that the district holds itself to a higher standard where 90 points and above are considered “highly effective.”

School board members offered Beal a raise, but he turned it down in a move of solidarity with teachers and support staff, who recently signed three-year contracts with no guaranteed step or percentage increases.

“It is the right thing to do,” Beal said. “We have an excellent staff and hold ourselves to very high standards. I am proud of the work and the many good things that are happening in Vestaburg Community Schools and I won’t take a raise during a year when the rest of the staff members forego their raises for the financial well-being of the district.”

School board members were pleased with Beal’s leadership of the district and credited him as one of the reasons the district is experiencing financial strength, program growth and vision for the future. Beal’s contract has been extended through June 30, 2015.

“I am flattered that the board likes the work I am doing, and am less concerned about the label of highly effective vs. effective,” Beal said. “I have worked very hard and will continue to learn and grow in my efforts to provide the best for our students, our faculty.”

Elisabeth Waldon is news editor of The Daily News, where she began as an intern in 2001. Her beat includes courts/cops/crime and Montcalm County government. She is also editor of The Carson City Gazette. She loves investigative reporting, telling small-town stories, taking road trips, frequenting music halls, experimenting with photography and being a wife and mother in the "Panhandle" of Montcalm County.

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